The Axemen ended up third in the Atlantic University Sport standings as the 2015-2016 regular season came to an end Feb. 12.
Acadia won its final game, 3-2 in overtime at Saint Mary’s, to clinch third place, but a 4-1 loss to the X-men Feb. 10 in Antigonish meant St. F.X. would have needed to lose to Dalhousie in regulation time for the Axemen to claim second spot.
The Tigers obliged – in part, anyway – by edging the X-men 3-2, also Feb. 12, but St. F.X. managed to force overtime, giving them the point they needed to clinch second.
Acadia and St. F.X. both finished with 40 points, but the X-men were awarded second based on their 3-1 record in four regular season meetings with Acadia.
With their third-place finish, Acadia will now meet the UPEI Panthers, sixth-place finishers, in one of two best-of-three playoff quarterfinals. Saint Mary’s and Moncton tangle in the other.
Game one of the UPEI-Acadia series is set for Feb. 17 in Wolfville, with game two Feb. 19 in Charlottetown. A third game, if required, would be Feb. 21 back at Acadia. All games are 7 p.m. starts.
In Wolfville Feb. 12, Sam Fioretti’s goal at 2:32 of overtime was the game-winner, and allowed the Axemen to clinch third place. Based on their head-to-head results, the Huskies would have had to win by four goals or more to overtake Acadia.
Chance Braid opened the scoring for Acadia at 5:23 of the first period, and Calder Brooks got the Huskies on the board at 9:18.
Zach Franko gave the Axemen a 2-1 lead at 10:26 of the first, and it remained 2-1 until Brooks scored his second of the game at 16:56 of the second period.
The third period was scoreless, as was the overtime until Fioretti netted the winner.
Final shots on goal were 40-35 in favour of the Axemen, including a 5-1 edge in overtime.
In Antigonish Feb. 10, Acadia failed to clinch second place as they lost 4-1 to St. F.X., setting up the Feb. 12 scenario.
Max Iafrate and Craig Duininck, in the first period, and Michael Clarke and Holden Cook in the third had the X-men goals. Iafrate and Cook both had power play goals.
Fioretti had the lone Axemen goal, on the power play at 12:58 of the first period, which made the score 1-1 at that point.
Final shots on goal were 27-25 in favour of the Axemen. Mike Cazzola had five shots on goal and Franko four.
While disappointed to be denied a top-two finish and a first-round playoff bye, Axemen head coach Darren Burns was ready to move on against UPEI.
Asked the keys to winning against the Panthers – indeed, the keys to the playoffs as a whole – Burns said Feb. 16, “we need to focus on playing stingy defensive hockey, playing with speed but playing with structure.”
Playoff time, he said, “is all about teams being locked in on a couple of integral parts of the game.” He pointed out, “this is an extremely tough league, and very unforgiving, so you need to be prepared” for every game.
The Axemen ended up third in the Atlantic University Sport standings as the 2015-2016 regular season came to an end Feb. 12.
Acadia won its final game, 3-2 in overtime at Saint Mary’s, to clinch third place, but a 4-1 loss to the X-men Feb. 10 in Antigonish meant St. F.X. would have needed to lose to Dalhousie in regulation time for the Axemen to claim second spot.
The Tigers obliged – in part, anyway – by edging the X-men 3-2, also Feb. 12, but St. F.X. managed to force overtime, giving them the point they needed to clinch second.
Acadia and St. F.X. both finished with 40 points, but the X-men were awarded second based on their 3-1 record in four regular season meetings with Acadia.
With their third-place finish, Acadia will now meet the UPEI Panthers, sixth-place finishers, in one of two best-of-three playoff quarterfinals. Saint Mary’s and Moncton tangle in the other.
Game one of the UPEI-Acadia series is set for Feb. 17 in Wolfville, with game two Feb. 19 in Charlottetown. A third game, if required, would be Feb. 21 back at Acadia. All games are 7 p.m. starts.
In Wolfville Feb. 12, Sam Fioretti’s goal at 2:32 of overtime was the game-winner, and allowed the Axemen to clinch third place. Based on their head-to-head results, the Huskies would have had to win by four goals or more to overtake Acadia.
Chance Braid opened the scoring for Acadia at 5:23 of the first period, and Calder Brooks got the Huskies on the board at 9:18.
Zach Franko gave the Axemen a 2-1 lead at 10:26 of the first, and it remained 2-1 until Brooks scored his second of the game at 16:56 of the second period.
The third period was scoreless, as was the overtime until Fioretti netted the winner.
Final shots on goal were 40-35 in favour of the Axemen, including a 5-1 edge in overtime.
In Antigonish Feb. 10, Acadia failed to clinch second place as they lost 4-1 to St. F.X., setting up the Feb. 12 scenario.
Max Iafrate and Craig Duininck, in the first period, and Michael Clarke and Holden Cook in the third had the X-men goals. Iafrate and Cook both had power play goals.
Fioretti had the lone Axemen goal, on the power play at 12:58 of the first period, which made the score 1-1 at that point.
Final shots on goal were 27-25 in favour of the Axemen. Mike Cazzola had five shots on goal and Franko four.
While disappointed to be denied a top-two finish and a first-round playoff bye, Axemen head coach Darren Burns was ready to move on against UPEI.
Asked the keys to winning against the Panthers – indeed, the keys to the playoffs as a whole – Burns said Feb. 16, “we need to focus on playing stingy defensive hockey, playing with speed but playing with structure.”
Playoff time, he said, “is all about teams being locked in on a couple of integral parts of the game.” He pointed out, “this is an extremely tough league, and very unforgiving, so you need to be prepared” for every game.
